CROSSING THE CHANNEL: AWAITING THE COMPLETION OF THE ENGLISH CHANNEL TUNNEL

This article is a general overview of the progress of the English Channel Tunnel. The idea of the tunnel has been around for nearly two centuries, and has finally culminated in a tunnel which has been holed through as of December 1990. British and French acceptance of the tunnel are in striking contrast. While towns in the northwest of France are vying over the construction of highways and railroad tracks leading to the tunnel, in England residents of the towns along the proposed routes of access are protesting the construction of highways on both aesthetic and environmental grounds. Eurotunnel, a consortium of private French and British companies, was awarded the 55-year franchise to build and operate the system. When completed, the English Channel Tunnel will be 50 km, with approximately 21 km of this distance under the channel. Three tunnels are being constructed: two 7.6 m inside diameter main railway tunnels and one 4.8 m inside diameter smaller service tunnel. An estimated 7.8 million cu m of soil will eventually be removed from below the Channel floor. Passenger use of the tunnel during its first year of operation is projected to be approximately 28 million people; annual escalation of that number is expected to be between 2.5 to 3%. Financial arrangements between the construction contractor, Transmanche-Link (TML), and the owner, Eurotunnel, are currently under renegotiation. At this date, and in accordance with the target cost arrangements made with TML, the latter will be paid actual costs plus a fixed fee of 12.36% of the target value. There are penalties for costs above the target and for delays. By early November 1988, TML had submitted approximately 80 claims for extension of time for delays beyond its control. For the most part, the delays have been caused by breakdowns in the tunnel boring machines or for longer-than-estimated drive times. Steps have been taken to mitigate these problems.